Silo



C. C. WOODY SILO Sept. 13, 1927. 003

Original Filed April 5. 1926 Inventor CT CiWoz/y Attorney Passed Sept.13, 1927.

TUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. f

CLYDE o. WOQDY, or winonag ivnnnnso'rn, nssiernon T MAmsonsILo coma,

- 4 or WINONA, MINNESOTA.

SILO.

Application filed April 5, 1926, SeriaLNo.

' My present invention pertains to silos and Consists in the doorfastening step affording means possessed of the'practical advantageshereinafter ascribed to the same.

lVith the foregoing in mind, the invention in all of its details will befully understood from the following description and claims when the sameare read in connection with the drawings, accompanying and forming partof this specification, in which.:' c

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in bothviews of the drawings.

The silo illustrated and designated by 1 is shown as formed of concrete,Figure 2, and is characterized by a vertical series of spaced dooropenings 2. Interiorly the silo is pro vided with rabbets 3 about thedoor 0 enings 2 and in the rabbets 3 are remova ly arranged doors 4which may be of any material compatible with the purpose of my.invention. The said invention contemplates the displacement of the doors4 inwardly.

In accordance with my invention, each of the'doors 4 is provided withtwo steps 5, the

said steps being formed of metal and being fixed at their ends to theface of the door 4 and being provided with intermediate por tions spacedfrom the face of the door.

, From Figure 1 it will be understood that the steps 5 extend in seriespractically through the height of the silo, and that by virtue of thesteps or step bars 5 being hfred'in horizontal position to the doors 4,and the doors 4 being seated in and on and supported b the silo wall, astrong and safe ladder is a forded from a point adjacent to the bottomof the silo to a point adjacent to the top thereof. In combination witheach door 4 and each pair of steps or step bars 5, I employ fastenermeans, the said means being made up of a lever member 6 pivoted at 7 totheupper step or step bar, and a link member 8 pivoted at 9 to the lowerarm of the lever 6 and longitudinally slotted at 10 and connected to thelower step or step bar .5 by a pintle 11 which extends through the vmentof the 99,949. Renewed April 18, 1927.

said slot 10. The outer ends of the lever 6 and link 8 are preferablyflared, Figure 2, so as to readily move into engagement with the outerside of the silo 1. V

Manifestly with the parts arranged as shown in Figure 2, the door 4 willbe strong- 1y supported in the silo 1 and will be securely and tightlyfastened in closed position, and when the bars5are used as steps it willbe noted that there will be no liability of any casual unfastening ofany one of the doors taking place. This latter is due in large measureto the fact that lateral movement of the lever member 6, i. e., movementof the upper arm of said lever member 6 toward the right or the left isnecessary to the disenagement of the outer ends of the lever member 6and link 8 from the silo 1 so that said end will clear the walls of theopenings when the door is displaced or removed inwardly as beforesuggested, and there is no liability of said lateral movement of thelever member 6 being accidentally brought about.

It will also be noted that for the fastening of the door shown in Figure2, it is simply necessary to seat the door 4 in the rabbet 3 and thenswing the lever member 6-to the upright position shown when said levermember 6 and the link 8 will engage the outer side of the silo above andbelow the opening 2 with theresult that the door will be strongly andsecurely held in closed position.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the several doors 4 are heldin placedue to pressure between the fastening means and the door frameor. silo 1; also, that my novel construction is simple and inexpensive,the steps or step bars 5 are entirely independent of the latch or doorfasteningmeans, and that by virtue of the two steps on each door it ispracticable to form a continuous ladder, Figure 1, with the stepsuniformly spaced and'so that there is no necessity of using any part ofthe silo or any part of the latching means of the several doors forsteps. On the other hand the steps or step bars 5 are rigidly affixed tothe doors 4 withthe result that the ladder as a whole is rendered safeand strong.

I have entered into a detailed description of the construction andrelative arrangearts embraced in the present and preferred embodiment ofmy invention in order to impart a full, clear and exact understanding ofthe'said embodiment. 1 I

do not desire, however, to be understoinl as limiting myself to thestructure as illustrated and explicitly described, my invent-ion beingdefined by my appended claims within the scope of which modificationsmay be made without departure from my invenon.

Having, described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. The combination of a silo having a door opening, a door positioned toclose said opening and removable inwardly. horizontal steps fixed to theface of the door at the ends of the steps and spaced apart and havingintermediate portions spaced from the face of the door, and upright.fastening means for the door connected with the steps thereof andarranged to cooperate with the outer side of the silo in tightly holdingthe door in closed position; the :lasteninp; means of the doorcon'iprising a lever member pivotally connected at an intermediate pointol? its length to the intermediate portion of one step and extendingabove and below the same, and a link pivotally connected to the saidlever member and longitudinally slotted and connected to the other stepby means extending through said slot and extending above and below saidstep.

2. In combination, a silo having a door opening, a door positioned toclose said opening and removable inwardly, spaced steps fixed adjacentto their ends to the face of the door, and upright fastening meanscarried by said steps and arranged to cletachably engage the outer sideof the silo above and below the door opening.

3. In combination, a silo having a door opening, a door positioned toclose said opening; and removable inwardly, spaced steps fixed adjacentto their ends to the taco ot' the door, and upright fastening meanscarried by said steps and arranged to detachably engage the outer sideof the silo above and below the door opening; the said fastener meanscomprising members flared at their outer ends.

In testimony whereof I allix my signature.

CLYDE C. YVOODY.

